A Scrape on Naboo
by Jae Eltie
Summary: Bounty huntress Kessadi Joraleeta runs into a small Two-E base on Naboo.


AUTHOR'S NOTE(s): Okeyday. This is my first serious SW fanfic ever (OK, just on the computer, but who cares -- "Combat" & "Teskanri & Armani" are ~~SO~~ not finished!), as you may have noticed, my other 2 fanfics being "The New Adventures of Bubble Butt" and "Infirmary Nightmare." I'll start with a bit of background on this very short-short fanfic:

1st of all, this takes place around 150+ years after the Battle of Endor (not to be confused with "Ewoks: The Battle for Endor" {Teek rocks!!! GGG}). The New Republic is old news, and Empire sympathizers are once again taking up various strongholds in the galaxy (they're called the Second Empire -- forever referred to as the Two-E). Meanwhile, Luke Skywalker's Jedi trainees (or whatever) have multiplied and spread, starting pulsing veins of Jedi throughout the universe. Jedi are "in." All the while, the Sith have been very slowly recovering in numbers, though they aren't a big threat -- yet. Their undercover agents have been searching out Force-strongs who they can turn towards the Sith persuasion. Kessadi Joraleeta is a Force-strong, but she got it spontaneously and has barely noticeable strength in it.

This is based upon the fact that Naboo wasn't destroyed or anything (I guess we'll find out in Episode 2 or something). It's also based on the fact that Boba Fett's starship, Slave I, wasn't destroyed anytime in the novels (I haven't read 'em all).

~Jessa

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"And just a few minutes until Naboo is in sight," announced Kessadi Joraleeta. This was to herself, since no one else was hitching a ride on the beaten-up starship. Not that many would. Then again, there was always someone wanting a quick way off a place to another. Kessadi listened as close as she could for their problem, and, if the reward was good enough, would snap back and deliver her passenger to their foes.

Kessadi was a bounty huntress.

The twenty-three-year-old looked the part for as far as anyone would bother to tell. Her thick, light brown hair hung in a long, high ponytail down her back and her quick gray-green eyes were wary. Athleticness and height were good for the job, and she fit the description, though she was a tad wiry. Her trusty, ancient BlasTech hung in its holster on the low-slung belt, and numerous tiny weapons were secretly tucked away in her loose-fitting dirt-brown jacket. No one trusted her, and Kessadi leaned on no one. She worked alone, as most hunters would, but sometimes made deals with the newer, more naïve individuals who shared her job. No matter what the agreement was, Kessadi always came out with the better end of the bargain, whether the other knew it or not.

As of late, more and more of her rare passengers were trying to get to one of two places: a Two-E base, or anywhere where the Two-E had no presence. Her last passenger, Antrenton Jas'ral, an obvious Jedi, had been picked up from Ord Mantell. What he had been doing there, she hadn't the foggiest, but he was being assaulted by a newer hunter, a tough Talz named Dnag. Curtains had been about to close for the Jedi – whose bravado had cracked when Dnag had pulled out a bi-polar carbine – but Kessadi had made sure that Antrenton walked away with only the few bruises from where the furry white alien had shoved him. Along the way, the black-haired Jedi had discovered that her ship was the Slave I. "I never miss" echoed through her mind. Those were the first words she'd greeted Jas'ral with. And it was true. Kessadi never misshot, whether it was a straight aim or a dim target.

After the encounter, Kessadi had whipped through hyperspace to Naboo, site of a Jedi gathering place. Antrenton had disappeared, but not before she'd found out what he was doing and where he was going. She trailed him and one of his colleagues, Fej Ofkas, to an expensive open-air diner hours later. Fej told her former rider who she really was and what her connections were -- which confused Kessadi because she'd never thought that some of her fellow bounty hunters had actually ~believed~ that she'd made a lasting alliance with them. But then Fej had announced that she had connections to the Two-E and was a fugitive seeking a haven to hide in, and that that was why she'd so willingly taken Antrenton to Naboo.

//Willingly? Ha!// Kessadi had thought. Naboo was a planet that she'd always tried to avoid -- until she actually arrived there. It was perfect for her: there were many people milling about, no one asked many questions, and the native clothing -- though not much different than others -- had an aura of disguise. The garments weren't bulky, but they just hid clues, like weight, age, and sometimes height. She grinned as she remembered trying to choose her clothes for the while that she was staying. So many fabrics, colors, and styles to select from! It hadn't been exactly enjoyable, just a comical experience. And it had worked for the most part, until Antrenton had spotted her stalking away from two tables over when Fej let on that the huntress could be a backstabber, maybe even trying to assassinate Jas'ral. Backstabber she might be, but not to a Jedi. NEVER to a Jedi.

The blue-and-green planet was just visible in the star-specked void beyond the nicked viewshield. Kessadi decreased Slave I's speed as she neared the world's gravitational pull. Her body tensed momentarily.

//Ease up, girl! You're just gonna land. Basic stuff . . . Then why did I freeze up?//

BONNNNNG!!!!!! SHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!

Kessadi jerked. "What . . . ?"

SHEEEEEEEEE-SHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!! Two deep red bolts of energy -- killing energy -- sprung from the peaceful surface. 

"Where's that comin' from?" the girl screeched, eyes darting to her scanner to identify the attacker. Nothing showed up. Nothing was there. "That's a lie. That's impossible!" Not even a cloaked ship could get past the scanner.

More shots spewed at her. Kessadi sped up and swerved back into the blackness. A tremor ran through Slave I, strong enough to rattle the huntress's teeth.

"Ohhh, playing backstabber now, hunh? Backstab this!"

A barrage of gold and green laser bullets shot out from the beaten-up ship's guns. Kessadi was rewarded by the flash of an explosion -- but not in the atmosphere. A tiny-looking mark splashed on the surface of the planet. A small townlike group of buildings shimmered into visibility.

Kessadi swung back at Naboo, doing a double take at the colony that had "magically" appeared. "Buildings with a cloaking device? You've gotta be kiddin' me." She swooped by, scraping the gravitational magnetic field, which was unusually strong. "~And~ a tractor beam?! Oh, feesh!"

Slave I's engines whined in protest as the beam took hold of it. Kessadi sprung out of the antigrav chair and ran a scan on the area. The information told her very little.

"Aha. No shields. Guess they figure they don't need 'em. That's stupidity to the fullest." Kessadi lurched forward as the ship grounded, smacking her head on the screen. She swiped the hair and blood from her mouth with her arm and bounded over to the straightbacked chair.

"All occupants of the ship are ordered to exit immediately."

Slave I was surrounded by Two-E officers in blue-gray uniform-armor. All sported an array of BlasTechs.

Kessadi punched the comlink. "Exit is commencing. One moment, please." She threw up all of the ship's shields.

The hum startled the officers, who defensively hefted their blasters into a ready-to-fire-at-will position.

"Fighting is futile. Exit now."

"Who said anything about fighting? I'm not stupid."

"You're making a big mistake if you--"

Kessadi involuntarily reached out and into the speaking officer's mind. "I'm gonna leave, now."

"She's gonna leave, now."

"I'll destroy this base as I go."

"She'll destroy this base as she goes."

This caught the others off-guard and they stared at their commander. Kessadi started up the engines and Slave I hovered above the dirt. She aimed at the nearest black and sand-colored buildings and disintegrated them with only a few blasts. The silvery web of energy that had been the tractor beam dissipated and the ancient starship zoomed into the blue-white light of hyperspace.

Kessadi programmed the ship for the remote planet of Dantooine, then searched for something to staunch the blood from her lip. "Ow," she mouthed as she placed a torn piece of cloth over the cut. "Dat hurfs. Unh." Once that was taken care of, she slouched childlike into the hard antigrav chair and commed Antrenton Jas'ral.

"Jas'ral."

"Mm, yeah. This is Joraleeta."

"Kes--! Erm, Miss Joraleeta. What's going on?"

Kessadi rolled her murky gray-green eyes skyward. "Not much. Except that I've got a bit of info that you might find interesting in some way."

"Yeah? What is it?"

"I just ran into a Two-E affiliated base, that's all."

"Where?"

"I don't wanna make you have nightmares about a Two-E killing you in your sleep, but--"

"~Where~?"

"On your precious Naboo, where else?"

"Naboo?!" Antrenton's voice all but cracked. "No Two-E's ever been located on Naboo."

"Then you haven't heard of the latest thing in technolo jazz: bases with undetectable cloaking devices. How's ~that~ for a change of pace?"

No reply.

"Jas'ral?"

Still nothing.

"Look, this isn't a prank, y'know. I--"

"Yes. Sorry. I was just thinking . . ."

"Oh, ~great~!"

"No no no. The Two-E has no bones to pick with the Naboo."

"But it ~is~ vulnerable in an attack."

"Not with the Jedi here, it isn't."

"Then what about the Sith up--" Kessadi slapped herself and clamped a hand over her mouth.

"The what?" Antrenton's voice came over hushed.

"The Sif Uprahr. You know, that species of alien on, uh, Nal Hutta." //Good going, Joraleeta,// she mentally scolded herself. //Now the whole Order's gonna be tagging at your heels if Jas'ral weasels it outta you!//

The ruse apparently worked, though. "Oh. I've gotta--"

"Go tell Ofkas and Co? Go right ahead. They'll need to know."

"Right." CLICK!

"Feesh, that was close!" Kessadi straightened up and tilted the chair back. In no time she was fast asleep.

MEANWHILE . . .

R'gi Tkud drummed his long fingers on the scanning panel. A fire smoldered in his brown eyes. "Just within my grasp." The fingers turned into a fist that slammed onto the table, making the scanmen jump in seats. "JUST within our boundaries and she ESCAPES!" The scanmen bit their lips and exchanged troubled glances. "Kessadi Joraleeta, the scraper. But not for long." The light-haired Sith Lord adjusted his brilliant red cloak. "No, Sith technology will catch up with you someday, Kessadi -- then LAP you!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

END NOTE(s): *gazes out on the few people snoring**nods* I thought so. *shrugs* Oh, well. GGG

~Jessa


End file.
